John Lewis, 34 of no fixed abode, has been sentenced to eight weeks in prison for four counts of theft from a shop, including a theft of a charity coin box from a supermarket.

Lewis is also required to pay a £154 victims' surcharge.

On 30 July at 1:30pm, police responded to reports of a suspicious male on the Shires Retail Park in Leamington Spa asking staff at one supermarket whether they sold scissors.

He then went into another supermarket on the park, where he was found standing by a charity book stand and was seen cutting the security cord for a Comic Relief charity coin collection box with a pair of scissors (worth £1.50), also stolen from the same shop.

Lewis attempted to conceal the charity box in his bag before leaving the store but was prevented from doing so by attending officers and security.

Two days later, on 1 August at around 5pm, Lewis was seen exiting a health food shop on The Parade in Leamington.

He was approached by a police officer, who found that he had concealed two sealed board games inside of his bag, which it emerged had been taken from a nearby bookshop on Warwick Street.

These were returned to the shop, who confirmed they had been stolen, and reviewed CCTV footage showing Lewis entering, picking up the board games, and leaving without pay.

On 22 August at just before 7pm, Lewis entered a shop on Radford Road in Leamington and left with two bottles of wine, followed by a member of staff confirming that they were stolen.

Lewis was arrested, and another two bottles of wine were found in his bag.

John Lewis was sentenced at Coventry Magistrates Court on 23 August.

A Comic Relief spokesperson said "As a charity we rely on the incredible generosity of the public and our fundraisers.

"We were saddened and disappointed to hear that a charity collection box on behalf of Comic Relief was taken from a supermarket and offer our appreciation to Warwickshire Police for alerting us to the theft and bringing the case to sentencing."

Investigating officer PC Wainwright said "John Lewis is well known in Leamington for targeting shops and taking what isn't his without payment.

"This has also stretched to stealing from charitable organisations, and on this occasion he did this in the middle of the day in front of both security personnel and police officers.

"We hope that eight weeks will provide Lewis with enough time to find the support he needs to change how his future looks and will provide valuable respite for the businesses he has targeted."